World Marathon Championships 2012

Written Monday 8th October

Its not every day you get to represent your country, pulling on your countries colours is what enthusiastic sports men and women dream of all around the world. Only one level below the Olympic games there is the World Cross Country Championships and also World Marathon Champs, each of these events decide who will wear the coveted World Champions stripes for that particular discipline.

This past weekend in very wet but beautiful Ornans, France the Marathon Worlds took place across a tough technical hilly 85km circuit. Rain had turned an already super technical track into a greasy messy bike trashing war zone! Even the most experienced riders were saying this would be the hardest Marathon Worlds ever!

Practise on Thursday was pretty fun sliding around the first and last parts of the circuit with my old teammate from Australia Andy Blair. It was great to have some time to catch up with Andy having not seen him for a couple of years. He's not lost any of his technical skills and it was pretty amusing following him down the muddy descents. On Friday Tim Dunford and I went to practise the middle part of the circuit, this 40km section was the toughest part of the track. There was everything from slippery fast rutted fireroads, out of control steep descents, boggy fields, tough rocky ascents and off camber cliff top trails which almost had me needing a parachute!

The mud on some trails was drying causing awful mud clogging, when it rained Saturday night before the race it was almost a relief to the riders as the rain would stop the mud being so sticky. With the rain tip tapping on the apartments balcony Sunday morning we nervously ate breakfast and prepared ourselves for the challenge which lay ahead.

To make things easier John and Chris from Mountain Trax had flown out to France to run technical and feed support. At the start they were there to take extra clothing which we peeled off at the last possible moments, this was much better than standing around for half an hour in short sleeve jerseys and shorts whilst it rained like some riders were doing! There were 7 tech zones all in different locations so they were kept busy and they worked the hire 'rally' car hard.

After a soaking down the 5 minute puddle filled start fireroad we turned sharp right onto the first climb. I didn't have the best of starts but once we started ascending I quickly began to make up places, the hill power training I've been doing at home had obviously worked. Reaching the top of the climb I found myself riding with the Trek World Racing Swiss riders the Flukinger brothers. I followed one of them down the first big descent making up loads of places matching the top 15 World Cup racers lines.

As the race continued I settled into a decent pace riding with another Swiss rider leading him up the climbs and then following him down the descents. Reaching the half way point I was feeling strong riding myself towards a possible top 40 finish.

Coming into feed zone 4 having successfully negotiated the most technical descent of the race I entered a series of fast fireroad descents which had become greasy with mud and rutted from the rain. On one of the steeper fireroad descents I struggle to control my speed and hit a rut which threw me from my bike and sliding down the hill on my side. No problem until my hip met with some big rocks, ouch! After a few choice words I climbed up, found the bike, straightened the bars and seatpost which had both twisted when I crashed and then got going again.

I'd lost about 10 places and something didn't feel quite right but I continued through the feed zone onto the next climb. Once ascending I couldn't put out any power through my left leg, I'd landed pretty hard on my left quad muscles and they now refused to work. I struggled to the top of the climb but was only just moving in my easiest gear almost resigned to walking, riders streamed past including first Tim, then some of the GB girls.

By the top I was in pain and was loosing body heat, it’s horrible to abandon any race let alone a race as special as this especially when you're going so well but I couldn't have made it up the next big climb.

It was a privilege to represent team GB, I learnt so much from the race and hope the 2012 World Champs are the first of many I get to attend. Thanks to British Cycling for the selection and all my fantastic sponsors especially Mountain Trax for coming all the way to France to support the British riders. Well done to the GB riders who all rode fantastically.

I write this in Frejus on the southern French coast where I’ll race my final 2 events of the year, the Roc d'Azur Marathon on Friday and Cross Country on Sunday.

Thanks for reading.

Ben Thomas

None of this would be possible without the help of my sponsors

Mountain Trax www.mountain-trax.com

Santa Cruz Bikes www.santacruzbikes.co.uk

Montane www.montane.co.uk

Fox Suspension www.mojo.co.uk

Hope www.hopetech.com

Rapid Racer Products www.rapidracerproducts.com

USE www.use1.com

Exposure www.exposurelights.com

Vermont Images www.vermont-images.co.uk

Lezyne www.lezyne.com

Jagwire www.jagwireusa.com

Kenda Tires www.kendausa.com

Phenix Metabolic www.phxmet.com

Crank Brothers www.crankbrothers.com

Clif Bar www.clifbar.com

Scott UK www.scott-sports.com

Gorrick 12 Hour Team Win!

If you’ve been reading my reports for a while you’ll know just how much I enjoy riding marathon and endurance events. This year I was especially looking forward to the Gorrick 12 hour which is sponsored by my team’s title sponsor Mountain Trax. The event takes place around an 8 mile circuit I know pretty well so when the heavens opened the day before the race I was fairly confident it wouldn’t be a complete mudfest like many other 12 or 24 hour races. The venue and much of the surrounding area has a loamy surface which quickly absorbs water keeping mud to a minimum. The track is made up of some super fun rooty singletrack and a few short, sharp climbs which perfectly suit my snappy power. The rain stopped on Saturday evening, come Sunday morning riders woke to blue skies and breezy conditions which would quickly dry the track as the last of the summer sunshine beamed down onto Minley Manor.


With a central base in the arena Mountain Trax had the perfect setup for its riders which included the race team, its shop staff, a few select customers, and a couple of guests. In total Mountain Trax had 4 teams - including the customer team. I’d be racing with Will Simmons, Scott McCarron, and Calum Chamberlain who was racing his final race in the UK before moving to New Zealand.


The aim from the start was to lead the race out trying to crack the strong opposition which existed in particular from my former team TORQ Performance. From the gun the race followed the lead quad bike in a loop around the arena field, the idea being riders would spread out before being let loose on the full lap and into the tight singletrack. As soon as the quad pulled off after the start loop I took the lead allowing perfect vision through the first twisty trail. Exiting this trail I had a small gap and capitalized by attacking up the next hill and along the next fireroad section. Quickly the elastic began to stretch, soon I was alone thrashing through the trails on my Santa Cruz 29er having huge amounts of fun. Although the track was drying quickly there were a few slippery patches which meant you needed to stay aware; the Kenda Karma tyres found the grip though and kept me going in the right direction. Entering the arena after the first lap in one of these 12 or 24 hour endurance races is always a thrill because the crowds in the arena gather to see who will be in the lead. First lap glory with 2 minutes lead over 2nd place at Mountain Trax’s home race was a pretty special but in reality as Calum headed out onto the next lap there was still over 11 hours to go.

Between laps there was some great banter, laughter and general comedy at the Mountain Trax tent which made the 12 hours pass by quickly. After Calum completed his lap he’d extended the lead over second place TORQ. Will and Scott then put decent lap times but TORQ’s strong 4 man elite team were piling on the pressure bringing the gap back down to a minute. As each hour passes the gap to second would increase and then close back down. Cracks eventually appeared over at TORQ and at this point we finally began to pull out a few more minutes, the gap never really became comfortable though, a puncture or crash would flip the situation completely.

As darkness fell over Hampshire the Mountain Trax team strapped on their Exposure Lights ready to illuminate the dark forest trails. Evidence of how well these lights work was proved by the lap times, my dusk lap time was just as fast as my previous 2 daytime laps, my final lap at night was just a minute slower around a tight twisty rooty 35 minute track!

As the 12 hour mark approached riders, family and friends gathered in the arena to cheer home the rider’s still racing out on track. The race organisers from Gorrick had pulled off another fantastic race and under clear skies team Mountain Trax crossed the line to take the win by 16 minutes.


Thanks for reading.
Ben Thomas



None of this would be possible without the help of my sponsors


Mountain Trax www.mountain-trax.com
Santa Cruz Bikes www.santacruzbikes.co.uk
Montane http://www.montane.co.uk/
Fox Suspension www.mojo.co.uk
Hope www.hopetech.com
Rapid Racer Products www.rapidracerproducts.com
USE www.use1.com
Exposure www.exposurelights.com
Vermont Images www.vermont-images.co.uk
Lezyne www.lezyne.com
Jagwire www.jagwireusa.com
Kenda Tires www.kendausa.com
Phenix Metabolic www.phxmet.com
Crank Brothers www.crankbrothers.com
Clif Bar www.clifbar.com
Scott UK www.scott-sports.com

6th at British XC Series Round 5

The cross country schedule I’ve followed this year has produced mixed results with some excellent results regionally, however my rides at the national series have been blighted by bad luck and fatigue. Bad luck can’t be helped, the fatigue however could have been avoided but sometimes you have to pick and choose which races you want to focus on, this is often to the detriment of others.

After the bad luck struck at National XC Champs in July I began to focus on my next big target the Kielder 100, this meant longer rides and less intervals so I wasn’t sure how the final National XC Series round would go. The course was a fast 6km circuit with short sharp uphill climbs and tight twisty singletrack.


Having only completed one National XC round this year I was gridded back on the 4th row. Off the start riders ahead made a slow start meaning I soon found myself at the back of the field. The open wide climb allowed for overtaking and suited my strengths so I quickly began to make up places. Lap by lap I passed a few more riders until I was inside the top 10, by now I was racing riders selected for the World XC Champs and most are full time cyclists. My third lap was the quickest of all the elite riders and my fourth lap was the second quickest.


Once in a group with brothers Seb and Hamish Batchelor I wasn’t sure how I’d outwit the pair and escape without pacing them but the course naturally split up groups as the climbs were so tough ridden at speed. After a lap I made my move escaping with Paul Oldham who was riding well, Paul gapped me toward the end of lap 5 as my chain slipped on a worn chainring. The worn chainring slowed me down slightly on that lap but kept my pace steady as I was forced to ride smoothly to avoid damaging the bike.

Laps six and seven were ridden alone but with my lap times again getting faster I moved up into sixth place. Paul Oldham went on to close in on the top 4 leaders finishing just behind them in fifth taking the final podium spot; I wondered afterwards if we’d been able to work together whether we could have caught the leaders.


After loosing all my world ranking points this year it felt so good to be back in the points and the money! A strong finish to the series is just what I needed and hopefully next year I can get back on the podium at a National race. To have finished on the podium would have been a fantastic way to say thanks to my sponsors but there’s still time this year with the Kielder 100 and a couple of races in France in October!


Special thanks to my sponsors John from Vermont Images and Chris from Mountain Trax for their fantastic support providing technical and feed support at events.

Thanks for reading.

Ben Thomas



None of this would be possible without the help of my sponsors

Mountain Trax www.mountain-trax.com
Santa Cruz Bikes www.santacruzbikes.co.uk
Montane http://www.montane.co.uk/
Fox Suspension www.mojo.co.uk
Hope www.hopetech.com
Rapid Racer Products www.rapidracerproducts.com
USE www.use1.com
Exposure www.exposurelights.com
Vermont Images www.vermont-images.co.uk
Lezyne www.lezyne.com
Jagwire www.jagwireusa.com
Kenda Tires www.kendausa.com
Phenix Metabolic www.phxmet.com
Crank Brothers www.crankbrothers.com
Clif Bar www.clifbar.com
Scott UK www.scott-sports.com

Brighton Big Dog Win!

The last couple of months have been all about the build up to National XC Champs, it was a big focus of mine and I wanted to put behind me the uncharacteristic performances of previous National Series rounds and show everyone what I can really do. Weeks of training passed perfectly and on the 22nd of July I was in ideal form to fulfil my target result. Off the start I found myself in the lead group of 5 but on lap 2 bad luck struck as my bike suffered a mechanical. It was pretty emotional at the time: having put in so much hard work it was tough to cope with it all being snatched away.

I’d planned to take a week off from training after National XC Champs; a week’s holiday was perfect as it gave me time to forget the disappointment and refocus. Last week was spent logging in the miles topping up the base fitness ready for a new focus which will conclude my season…

On Saturday it was back to the race day routine as I took to the start line of the 6 hour Brighton Big Dog marathon. It was my first time at the event but the competition was familiar, at the start I lined up next to my Gorrick 100 rivals Tim Dunford and George Budd. After a quick start loop we were off out onto the race track which was made up of super fun rooty and rocky tight singletrack. There was plenty of climbing and descending so this would be a different test to the flat trails of the Gorrick 100 in May. The trails were slippery so I decided my best option was to be near the front of the race staying out of trouble, despite there being teams of 3 and pairs racing I was the third person through after lap 1 with George right behind me. Tim had been dropped pretty early so George and I had a comfortable gap and settled into what felt like a steady pace. George was pinning the slippery singletrack taking a few more risks than I wanted to and was wasting energy on the climbs standing up out of the saddle while I remained seated spinning smoothly away.

On lap 4 I dropped George much to my surprise, I hadn’t expected to be out alone so early and with a possible 5 more laps to go it was going to be a long race. Later on that lap George then suffered a mechanic leaving me with a gap of a couple of minutes. The trails by now were pretty dry and I loved the rooty descents, especially the last couple of downhill sections to the arena where spectators had gathered to cheer on the riders.

Once out alone it’s always hard to maintain focus and not think about other things or start to worry about what could go wrong. I was being given no time gaps back to 2nd and 3rd so on lap 6 I started to panic that George was catching me. I was asking other riders what the gap was but the responses were all very varied. All I could do was keep smooth, refocus and maintain my speed, my lap times were pretty consistent throughout the whole race and overall I felt comfortable and in control.

The race atmosphere was fantastic and the course one of the best I’ve ridden in the UK. Crossing the line in first was a real pleasure and receiving the winner’s trophy was a pretty good birthday present!

Twentyfour12 2012 Video

Twentyfour12 2012

Severe weather warnings, torrential rain, road closures, and floods greeted riders on Friday evening as they made their way to Twentyfour12 in Plymouth this past weekend. A pre ride mid afternoon Friday presented a damp slippery track which included the very best of Newnham Park’s mountain bike trails. The weather that arrived that night would transform parts of the course from slippery but manageable to dangerous and unrideable. The whole event was put in danger by the rising water levels in the river which runs alongside the camp sight.

After a peaceful night’s stay in a nearby hotel team Mountain Trax arrived at the campsite Saturday ready for action. I’d be teamed up with Calum, Scott and Martin to race the 12 hour in a team of 4. Also racing from Mountain Trax was Kathy who was riding the 12 hour solo. Team Director John would be supporting us during the race. The decision was made that I would start and would therefore have the opportunity of going for first lap glory. There were some strong riders on the start line, including former teammates from TORQ. The wonderful British summer weather had improved after Friday’s heavy downpours but the course remained pretty waterlogged.

The race begun around a short start loop which returned us to the arena before we headed out on a full lap of the track. A quad bike led us around the start loop, as we exited the arena I leapt into the lead determined to force the pace and create a time gap to our rivals early on. After the 5 minute start loop I’d already created a 30 second lead and didn’t back off the power until I entered the trails. I knew after all the rain we’d had that the singletrack would be slippery and it would be easy to make a mistake leading to a crash. Being cautious on the trails and then pushing hard on the climbs or fireroad would be the strategy for the race. After slipping my way down the last descent into the arena I handed over to Calum with a lead of a few minutes. The organisers had done a good job of re-routing parts of the track following the rain we had on Friday night, leaving a track which was good fun and completely rideable.

On our third lap we lost the lead as Martin suffered a puncture on the rocky trail called Cottage Return, with the tyre not sealing he was forced to fit a tube. This cost us 15 minutes and the opportunity to chase TORQ and Southfork Racing as they rode past us fixing our mechanical. We weren’t going to give up easily though and over the next few hours we chased hard hoping our luck would change.

As the laps passed by the course conditions worsened, after my second lap the course was shortened as sections did become unrideable. Again later on in the evening the organisers did a good job of changing parts of the course to keep the race moving and riders happy.

Each rider from the team was riding consistent lap times keeping us in third position. Between laps there was plenty of laughter and fun at the big orange Mountain Trax eazy-up tent. We had a good position in the area where we could view both the last descent and also a jump through the campsite which caused many comedy moments. After the half way point the mud began to thicken which meant it stuck to bikes weighing them down, luckily we had John who was doing a fantastic job cleaning the bikes after every lap.

For the night time laps the team had a range of fantastic lights at its disposal from my sponsor Exposure Lights, the huge power of the Maxx D and Diablo lights illuminated the greasy rocks and roots. During my night laps I’d often pass riders thinking they were riding without light - such was the power of my Exposure LED’s!

Going into the latter stages of the race it became apparent that we would be tight on time for Scott to start his fourth lap before the 12 hours elapsed. Rules differ at different races but at Twentyfour12 riders can complete any lap they have begun before the 12 hour mark. Martin knew he had an hour to complete his last lap so that Scott could start his lap. Like a couple of cheeky school kids Calum and myself armed with horns and bells wandered over to the finish line to wait for Martin and to cheer on Scott. The minutes ticked by, then the seconds ticked by, it looked like Martin wouldn’t make it but then with 3 seconds to spare he sprinted over the line to pass the baton to Scott. In reality Scott didn’t have to go out on his fourth lap as the team behind us couldn’t have overtaken us but it was good fun and Scott wanted to do his second night lap.

After 16 completed laps the team finished a fine third place and Kathy finished a brilliant second place in the solo category. The podium presentations completed a fun packed weekend of racing. The organisers put on a fantastic event as always and successfully beat the weather which tried its best to ruin the race. Get yourself to Twentyfour12 next year, you won’t be disappointed, it might even be sunny!

Win at Southern XC Series Final

This past weekend the 2012 Southern XC Series came to a close with the fifth and final round at Frith Hill in Surrey. Having ridden three of the previous four rounds I stood a good chance of securing second place in the series but was yet to win a round this year, I was determined to make amends at this final round.

On Saturday I joined Calum and Scott from team Mountain Trax for a practise of the race track. The lap was a real power course and could be ridden entirely in the biggest chainring, just how I like it! There wasn’t anything too technical but the singletrack was great fun and there were plenty of tight twists which could easily catch riders out as they tired during their final race laps.

A little rain around midday Sunday created only a little mud on the first singletrack descent, the rest of the track remainder loamy and dusty. A combination of Kenda Karma front tyre and Small Block Eight rear was perfect for the course conditions.

My start sprint was good and put me just behind Ade Lansley into the first descent, entering the first climb we both sprinted for the lead which opened a gap to the riders behind. Ade was keen to stay ahead and blocked my progress. He couldn’t stop me though and as the trail opened back up on the second part of the climb I sprinted past into the next bit of singletrack and didn’t look back!

It was unexpected having trained so hard during the days leading into the race but my legs felt great and the gap to Ade began to open. I added time on each climb or open fireroad and took it steady on the singletrack making sure I hit my lines, saving energy, and looking after the bike.

A few days before the race Mountain Trax had very kindly fitted the new Sram X0 ten speed grip shifters to my bike. I was super keen to try these new shifters and they’re a great addition to the Sram XX groupset I have. The older triggers were good but these are even smoother and quicker to change through the gears, even letting you change multiple gears in one go. Despite only having one day riding with the new grip shifters before the race it was easy to adjust and I’m sure they helped me win the race.

By the end of the first lap I had a fifteen second lead, it wasn’t much and a small mistake would have put Ade straight back onto my wheel but I kept up the pace. My next three laps times were within three seconds gradually getting quicker each time around. This was enough to crack the opposition and open up a decent lead on the fourth lap. I was then out of sight but still felt good and was enjoying racing my bike around the fun trails the venue offers.

After just over one and a half hours I crossed the line with my arms aloft taking the win with a gap of nearly three minutes on second place Ade Lansley and a further minute to Ben Sumner in third! The points acquired from the win were enough for me to take second place in the series.

Last week was a big training week and the strength of my legs during the race was a little unexpected but a pleasant surprise with just three weeks to go until National XC Championships. With another two big weeks of training hopefully I can make further progress and collect a decent result at Champs.

This weekend I join team Mountain Trax for the team event TwentyFour12 at Newnham Park in Plymouth.